South Smiles as Lentils Soar30-Jun-2014

LENTIL prices hit $900 a tonne last week, providing a rare spot of good news for farmers in south-eastern Australia.

The prices for the crop, which is virtually exclusively produced in Australia in Victoria and South Australia, have been influenced primarily by production issues in Canada, together with the likelihood of a below average Australian harvest this year.

Australia and Canada are the world’s two biggest exporters of the pulse crop.Australian Grain Export pulse trader Will Alexander said the price had eased by $50/t this week as South Australian lentil producers began harvest in early finishing regions.

Mr Alexander said the $900 did not represent a record price, but added it was extremely attractive.

“I have paid up to $1100 before during the last drought, but the prices last week were certainly at the higher end of the scale.”
Looking forward to the Australian harvest, he said he expected the earlier parts of South Australia’s lentil belt to be better.
“They lacked spring rain, but they still should be solid enough.”

Mr Alexander said later South Australian crops would likely struggle to finish well because of issues with the hot, dry spring.
Mary Raynes, Pulse Australia southern industry manager, said it was a similar story in Victoria, where heat and frost have caused havoc.

“Frosts last week look to have taken the gloss off Wimmera crops, which had hung on well until then, considering the dry.”

However, the good news for growers is that they need to grow just over 0.3 tonnes a hectare to cover the cost of production, based on production costs of around $300/ha, with all but the worst crops expected to do this.

Farmonline

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